Kevin Hart on Finally Realizing How Harmful Homophobic Comments Are, Why He Jokes About Height
22/04/2024 20:27
In a new chat with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, Kevin Hart reveals his actual height ("with a shoe on"), why he makes jokes about it, and how he finally came to understand the negative impact of his homophobic jokes.
Kevin Hart has done a better job than some celebrities at rebounding after a pretty serious controversy. His past homophobic comments cost him an Oscars hosting gig -- but he's still doing just fine. It helps he actually took the moment as an opportunity to learn and grow.
It also took someone perhaps knocking a littles sense into him first before that happened. Calling her the "best light bulb ever" during a conversation with Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes Sunday, Hart credits comedian Wanda Sykes with helping him gain some understanding.
As a gay woman herself, she certainly knows the power words and attitudes like that have had on the LGBTQ+ community.
"Wanda Sykes said, 'There's people that are being hurt today because of comments like the ones that you made then, and there's people that will think it's okay to make those comments today based off of what you did then," Hart told Cooper. "It was presented to me in a way where I couldn't ignore that."
"In those moments of despair, great understanding, and education can come out of it if you're given the opportunity," says Kevin Hart, whose comments about the gay community onstage and on Twitter sparked a controversy. https://t.co/0rEqdUbKxipic.twitter.com/OqWo9XSMx3
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 21, 2024
In one clip shared during the interview from a Kevin Hart stand-up set, the comedian says, "I'm not homophobic. I have nothing against gay people. Be happy. Do what you want to do. But me, as a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will."
Hart also made similar comments on Twitter (now X) in the late 2000s about how he might react if he were to find out his son was gay. He tried to blame the negative reactions to those jokes on political correctness making people more sensitive in a Rolling Stone interview in 2015.
Flash forward a few years, and those same jokes resurfaced when he was announced as the Oscars host, prompting the comic ultimately to bow out. In the immediate aftermath, he notably "passed on the apology" in a statement, saying he'd already addressed it and acknowledged "where the rights and wrongs were."
One day later, he decided to step down as host, posting an actual apology on Twitter, saying, "I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so."
Hart apologized again on his SiriusXM radio show Straight from the Hart, per The Hollywood Reporter, while also calling on people of all persuasions to allow other people the space to grow and change. "If you don't want to accept people for their change, then where are you trying to get to the equal part?" he asked.
Talking with Cooper, Hart said that Sykes' words really resonated with him. "In those moments of despair, great understanding and education can come out of it if you're given the opportunity," he said.
"GQ said you're 5'5", the L.A. Times says you're 5'4", and some other place said you were 5'2"," Anderson Cooper says to comedian Kevin Hart, who tries to set the record straight. https://t.co/eosLqauiY2pic.twitter.com/uh7BPaP2XX
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 21, 2024
Elsewhere in the interview, another common refrain in his life came up. From recurring jokes by pal Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to gags in his films and even his own comments about it in his stand-up specials, Anderson Cooper wanted to know the truth. How tall is Kevin Hart?
Cooper ran down some of the numbers that have been reported, including The Los Angeles Times having him at 5'4", GQ giving him an extra inch at 5'5", and "some other place said you were 5'2"."
"Well, that place is bulls--t," Hart said of the latter figure. "GQ finally got it right. [I'm] 5-foot-5, like with a shoe on, like a sneaker. Now, if I put a boot on, I can get to 5'5″ and a half."
The "finally got it right" crack comes after the comedian had agreed to be strapped to a lie detector by the magazine in 2019 and gave a much different answer than 5'5". In fact, when probed about his height, he was said to be telling the truth when he said he was 5'2", further admitting he was self-conscious about it.
In the 60 Minutes interview, Hart is shown saying all three figures in the same bit on stage. If he's admittedly self-conscious about his height, why does he crack jokes about it? "It's talking about the things that you aren't afraid to laugh at about yourself," he explained to Cooper.
"I'm really confident that the laugh that I'm getting, you're not laughing necessarily at me as if I'm a joke," he added. "You're laughing at the experience. I'm giving you an experience through a story that is relatable. And more importantly, I'm saying things that other people just don't have the heart to say."
Anderson Cooper asks Kevin Hart: "Are you a billionaire yet?
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 21, 2024
Hart responds: "None of your business. You trying to get me robbed?"https://t.co/hI5PymKv5Kpic.twitter.com/AjqQbApTdY
Cooper also asked him about his wealth, asking Hart if he was a billionaire yet. "None of your business, man," Hart shot back. "You trying to get me robbed?"
When asked if he will maybe be a billionaire someday, Hart said, "I mean, hopefully, and even if I don't or if I'm not, I think the better side to what I've done is create what can become the new norm for other people in the business of funny, for other people in the business of entertainment, right? Not just being a part of the business, but learning and understanding how to be the business."
You can check out Kevin Hart's full sit-down interview with Anderson Cooper from 60 Minutes below.
